Rice, lentils and recovery

Posted 18th November 2006

Friday was a write off.

I went to two Bond parties on Thursday night and got so drunk that I could barely lift my head on Friday. But did the world care? No. Instead it served up an achingly long work day that ended with a painfully difficult client meeting. Wonderful, really…

So at the end of it all, I decided to cook fellow sufferer the partying hubby a warming Indian rice and lentil dish called khichdi (pronounced: khich-ri).

Khichri is traditionally served on cold, rainy days or when you are unwell. It is highly nutritious – packed full of proteins and carbohydrates and the goodness of the vegetables you chose to add to it. It is also very low in masalas, when compared to a standard curry or pulao, so very easy on the taste buds and the tummy. Perfect for a hangover!

There are lots of different ways of cooking khichdi. The basic premise is that rice and lentils are cooked together. The masalas and vegetables added vary from family to family, depending on what they prefer. The accompaniments also vary, Parsis have it with a prawn dish, Bengalis have a selection of fried vegetables, while some just prefer it with a dollop of yoghurt and some pickle.

Wash the rice and lentils well and mix together. Heat the oil and when hot fry the cinammon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf. When the leaf starts going brown, add the whole cumin and let it sizzle up.

Then add the onion and fry well until it starts going brown. Chuck in the turmeric and give the masalas a good stir.
Add the rice and lentils, and fry for a minutes stirring the masala into the mixture evenly. Add some salt at this stage.

Lower the flame to a medium heat, add the water, cover and cook. During this time, you can add raw carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, peas etc to make the dish even more healthy.

When the lentils lose their shape and the rice is cooked, your khichdi is ready. It should have a runny consistency.

[…] The model is question was prawn patia – a popular hot and sour Parsi prawn curry. My new colleague at work mentioned how much she loved this dish and I thought I would post the recipe for her. I served it with some khichdi – a simple lentil and rice dish. […]

I recently came upon ur blog while searching for kichdi recipe…Im indian and yes our name ryhmes and that pleased me no end!! No particular reason though. As a fellow expat wife I love surfing the net for nice indian recipes. im sure u will agree ,just being Indian does’nt make us good cooks automatically! Post marriage ive discovered that Indian cusine is humungous and there’s so much to try. Im from varanasi-UP and married to a mallu who was born and brought up in Chennai (to complicate matters) , so I have to juggle between dal-chawal and sambhar-chawal often….we now live in Dubai after having moved from London after a 3 yr deputation there and recently married (last yr) I absolutely love cooking and though im a home maker (now) cooking Ive realised has become a bit of a pain,since i gotta do it everyday …so a blog like urs serves to make life simpler and easy. Just becos i stay home doesnt mean i will slave over the stove and go bonkers….one thing tho, after london, dubai makes for a fantatsic change as far as procuring ingredients are concerned. Heck! the stuff here is better than india itself!! he he! We get everything, literally EVERYTHING, sometimes I dont even know myself ,whats on the shelf….thats indian cuisine for you! I make fairly complicated meals, sometimes 2 kinds to suit mine and hubby’s palate and suddenly realised khichdi – comfort food at its best and will suit us both when i dont wanna cook (again!) majorly. I know dishes from most regions but didnt know khichdi…weird huh? Anyhow, I better stop rambling and must commend u on ur site…..fun reading and easy tips…keep up the good work. I should send u some typical UP ka khana recipe maybe!!
best regards
harshika

Hey – it is one of those rainy days. i am sick with a cold and a raging fever. I stopped by to get a recipe for khichidi. It was really good. I would suggest a dash of hing when you are frying thecloves etc.

HI GUYS
I DID LOVE THE RECIPE , BUT I MAKE MY KhichRI SLIGHTLY DIFFRENTLY, AS IM SINDHI , WE USE SPLIT GREEN MOONG LENTILS WITH RICE AND ADD WATER, SALT, KNOB OF BUTTER AND LET IT COOK ….IF U LIKE IT RUNNY ADD MORE WATER – OR IF U WANT TO HAVE LIKE RICE THEN THE REG AMT OF WATER…AFTER ITS DONE…

(OPTIONAL IN SOME SINDHI HOMES: FRY SOME MUSTARD SEEDS AND GARNISH IT)

AND WITH SERVE IT WITH FRIED OR BOILED POTATOES OR BINDI (OKRA- FRIED) YOGURT AND ROASTED PAPAD(PAPADOM) OR PICKLE ..

TRUST ME HAVING IT THIS WAY SINCE I WAS A TODDLER ITS SUPER FAB THIS WAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

THE REASON WITH DO NOT ADD OTHER INGRENDIENTS AS IT TRADITIONALLY GIVEN WHEN UR FEELING LOW OR FANCY A BREAK FROM THE MASALAS!!….

[…] This Indian dish of rice and lentils is another high-protein breakfast. It’s wonderfully comforting on a cold morning, and simple to prepare. There are probably as many different versions of khichdi in India as there are households. For a basic recipe, click here. […]

I am going to give your recipe a try for the first time. Sounds and appears easy on paper. Would you be so kind enough as to mention approximate cook times in your recipes! Please remember, that all your readers are not necessarily female! 😀

I grabbed your recipe for a demonstration at school in my 7th grade class. Tomorrow I will whip up the lentils in a wok during class and offer up samples along with Jasmine rice! The last time I did this people came from the office and other surrounding classrooms for a “sample” of whatever that is that smells so good! Thanks!

This was my first time making Indian food with actual individual spices, instead of just adding “curry.” I live in a co-op with vegetarian tendencies, and let me tell you, this recipe was heartily appreciated! We added some chutney made by a former housemate, and some naan my boyfriend brought. Exquisite! I am going to look for more ideas on this site. Thanks again!

Hi, I needed a Khichdi recipe, Did not know what it was. I was looking up DIY Solar Cooker and came across a unique design and they were cooking you guessed it – Khichdi.
So my world of different foods and tastes is growing.I love trying new foods. And now with your blog I can try other recipes from India and SE Asia. Thank you

Just made this tonight after searching high and low for a quick but tasty khichdi recipe!
I love how the initial masala gave it a pulao like flavor – very subtle but very warming.
Perhaps just the way I made it but I would double this recipe for two people (although it wasn’t runny when i was done so perhaps that was the issue!)
Will definitely make it again and try your other recipes!!